Tuesday, August 9, 2011

S & P Oyster Company

1 Holmes Street, Mystic, CT 06355, 860-536-2674 www.sp-oyster.com

When we mentioned to people that we were going to spend a few days vacationing in the Mystic/ Stonington area, anyone who'd been there told us to eat at S & P Oyster Company. The opinions of the place were universal and unanimous and now that we've sampled it ourselves, we'll add our voices to the cheering choir.

When you think about what you'd want from a restaurant you imagine good food, good service, nice surroundings and a fair price for what you're getting. Well, place a big check mark next to each of those for S & P!

We knew it was located right past the famous Mystic drawbridge and that was the first attraction we headed to when we arrived in the area. We stood by the river and watched as the bridge was being raised for boating traffic, then when it was lowered, we walked across to check out the shops and there was S & P. We loved it as soon as we saw it from the outside with it's pretty outdoor tables overlooking the river and well manicured flowers and foliage surrounding the building.

Key Lime Martini

Most of the area restaurants don't accept reservations on summer weekends so we made sure to arrive early for dinner. But, at 5:00 PM, the place was already full and there was a wait. We headed to the upstairs bar where we snatched two seats by the window, looked out over the river, watched the raising of the bridge again and fell in love with one of the house specialty cocktails.By the time we ordered our second Key Lime Martini, we watched carefully as the bartender made it and took notes. We've subsequently recreated it at home (with slightly more kick) and it's become one of our all time favorites. (See our recipe here.)

By the time we finished enjoying our second round, a waitress came to tell us our table downstairs was ready. By now about 40 minutes had passed and the bar was jam packed so I asked her how she even knew who we were since our names had not been called. She told us that when we left our names with the hostess for a table, the woman had described the two of us on the ticket and that's how the servers find the customers. Nice!

Grilled prosciutto-wrapped sea scallops

We chose to dine inside due to a threat of rain and were seated at a comfortable table in the pretty dining room. A waitress, who turned out to be one of the best servers we've had in a long time, immediately appeared with menus, a delicious basket of bread, tasty vinegar swirled olive oil and drink offers. The tables here are covered in wax paper over the tablecloths and an adorable bucket of crayons is presented along with the bread. Although children are welcome here, it's not a child-themed restaurant. They just think the crayons are a cute touch and we had fun doodling with them.

Warm spinach & artichoke dip

We'd skipped lunch so that we could relish what everyone said was great food and we started with an appetizer of wonderful grilled prosciutto-wrapped sea scallops over a white bean, jicama and cumin salad. We also indulged in a recent favorite of ours, warm spinach and artichoke dip. We'd learned to love this dish while vacationing on Cape Cod but S & P's version was far better, served with warm crispy pita rather than tortilla chips and with generous amounts of shaved Parmesan. Just as with the cocktail, we recreated this dish at home using S & P's recipe (or our best approximation of it, anyway. See it here).

Broiled seafood platter

For entrees Brian took advantage of the local seafood offerings with a platter of broiled shrimp, Stonington sea scallops and crab encrusted day-boat cod served over rosemary red potatoes and vegetables. The previous night we'd gotten into town late, couldn't get in to any of the better restaurants in the area and had settled for some barely identifiable Mexican mess. So tonight I was really craving a good filet. They're usually too large for me but S & P offers a petit filet with a port wine and dijon sauce over a gorgonzola polenta cake and vegetables. I should have taken a photo of the plate after I was done with it because it's possible I licked the pattern right off the dish!

Petit filet over gorgonzola polenta cake

Finally, as we were sipping coffee and tea and perusing the dessert menu, our wonderful waitress strongly recommended the house signature dessert of warm bread pudding with amaretto sauce and cinnamon whipped cream. We don't usually love bread pudding and told her we were leaning toward the cheesecake but she promised we wouldn't be sorry. Ok, she talked us into it. And, it was the best bread pudding we've ever had!

Bread pudding w/amaretto sauce & cinnamon cream

While we were dining, the manager took the time to stop by our table, greet us and welcome us to the area. We returned the favor when we were leaving by letting her know how fantastic our waitress was and what a great time we had. So, if you're in the Mystic area, stop by S & P. Go early, plant yourself at the bar, order one of the house special cocktails, enjoy the water view and wait patiently for your table. It'll be worth it!